Finger-shield



(No Model.)

M. A. CONNELLY. FINGER SHIELD.

No. 549,229. y Patented Nov. 5, 1895.

' W/TNESSES: /NVENTH @f :a l.

AN DREW BLRAHAM. PHOTO'UTHQWASHINIGUN. D.C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

MARY A. OONNELLY, OF BROOKLYN, NEIY YORK.

FINGER-SHIELD.

SPECIFICATION forming` part of Letters Patent No. 549,229, dated November 5, 1895.

Application led October 13, 1894. Serial No. 525,756. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known .that I, MARY A. CONNELLY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Finger-Shields, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention relates to finger-shields, and has for its object to provide a device which will protect the linger holding the goods while being sewed, which will enable the goods be ing grasped readily, which will permit said finger to be bent during the operation, and by means of which the needle will be guided by the shield and slipping thereof, attended by consequent danger to the finger, prevented.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pair of hands, upon one of which is a device embodying my invention, the opposite hand having a needle therein to illustrate the use of the shield. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the shield, the same being taken upon the line 0c, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device.

In the practice of my invention I construct a hollow substantially cylindrical body a., closed at one end and substantially smooth on one side, which is arranged, when the shield is in use, to align with the back of the hand, and tapered or curved upon its opposite side at a to protect the end and the inside of the finger.

At about the center of the device the side a is cut out to form an elliptical aperture b, extending throughout a majority of the length of the shield.

The lower or open end of the shield is cut out at a2, as shown, whereby the shield does not project to or beyond the first joint of the finger at the inside, while at the same time the outer imperforate side of the device projects downwardly suficiently to protect the knuckle and to retain the shield in place upon the nger. I form a series of closelyadjacent diagonally-ranging grooves c, of sufficient width to receive the needle therein, and direct the same to the goods on a portion of the shield adjacent to the side a.

The operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. The shield is placed upon the forefinger of the left hand, as shown in Fig. 1, the thumb bearing upon that portion of the finger which is exposed by the aperture h, and between which said portion and the thumb the goods to be seWed is held as iirmly and with as great ease as without the shield, and the excision of the lower end at a2 permits the ready bending or movement of the finger to grasp different portions of the goods, as ordidarily, and protects the knuckle, while at the same time the shield prevents the needle from entering the iinger. As the operation of sewing is performed the needle is rested in one of the diagonal grooves cin the shield, whereupon its course is readily directed as desired, thus not only being an aid in properly guiding the needle through the fabric, but also assisting in protecting the finger by tendingto prevent the needle from striking the thumb or the portion of the finger unguarded by the aperture b.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A finger shield consisting of a hollow body adapted to be tted upon the finger and having an outer imperforate side a extending back to protect the knuckle and an elliptical opening b in its opposite side to permit a fabric to. be grasped by the finger in the shield, a portion of the open end of the body being cut away as at a2, and a series of diagonal grooves located on a portion of the shield adjacent to the outer imperforate side, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 11th day of October, 189A.

MARY A. OONNELLY. Witnesses:

PERcY T. GRIFFITH, L. MULLER. 

